


Weep

by academyof7umbrellas (reader_writer_traveller)



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Emotional Whump, Hurt, Klaus whump, don't let them see you cry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29791896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reader_writer_traveller/pseuds/academyof7umbrellas
Summary: Dave was dead.Dave was dead.Nothing Klaus could do would bring him back.
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2183271
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Weep

**Author's Note:**

> Checking the Bad Things Happen Bingo box off for Don't Let Them See You Cry. And, uh, yeah, this one hurt to write not gonna lie.

_“Dave! Dave!” Klaus couldn’t help the cries of anguish that escaped him. Leaning over Dave’s body, Klaus knew instantly his love was dead. Body still warm with life, but devoid of all movement, all heartbeats. Remnants of gunpowder stained Klaus’ fingers as he gripped the dead man’s hands. Had it been just a moment ago when Dave was yelling, adjusting his helmet and reloading his weapon?_

_Letting a sly smile grace his lips at an innuendo from Klaus? A hope and a promise of their evening together?_

_Memories came flooding back to him: Dave, bathed in the iridescent lights of the discotheque. Dave, a carefree laugh escaping him at some dumb pickup line of Klaus’s. Dave, and his never-ending hope of the future. But a snapshot of that last second on the battlefield would forever haunt Klaus. The innocence of Dave’s face now marred with tragedy._

_Yet now. Now. Reality struck Klaus like a knife, digging in deep and twisting, twisting, twisting until all he could do was scream and cry and wish he had taken Dave’s place. Sweet Dave who did not deserve the cruel fate that awaited him in the war._

_Klaus may have the ability to control the dead, raise them into apparitions, but right now he was helpless. Useless. Constrained by his own lack of powers and resigned to accept fate. There was nothing anyone could do to bring him back. Klaus would have to go on living while Dave just laid there._

_Dave was dead._

_Dave was dead._

_Nothing Klaus could do would bring him back._

_Gunfire rapidly played above their heads; gray smoke filled the air. Men screamed and the war continued to take lives. Death was a force no one could escape._

_Death was here and taking and taking and taking. It took what it wanted and left no survivors; not on this battlefield, not on this day._

_And Dave was dead._

_Klaus’s world shrank to the size of a needle; his only concern was the man he loved but could no longer help. Sobs wracked his body, he threw himself over Dave, half-lying on the other man._

_Dave’s eyes remained open, lifeless, staring at the carnage in the valley._

_And Klaus was helpless._

Klaus inhaled sharply and opened his eyes. In terms of waking up from nightmares, this time was calm and quiet. A stark opposite to the nightmares that used to plague him immediately following his time in Vietnam. Those were vicious, unruly things filling his mind with terror and pain. 

They would leave him in a haze for days, reliving those memories over and over. The smallest noise of a door scraping on the floor, the coffee machine whirring just too loudly in the morning would send him back to those months. 

Closing his eyes again, Klaus took a deep breath. Focused on breathing in and out, in and out. Calming his mind and letting the memories wash over him, releasing the bad and keeping the good. But Dave kept remaining in his thoughts

There came a light rapping on his door. _Shit_ , Klaus thought. He didn’t want to be bothered right now, let alone talk to _anyone_.

One knock and then nothing more. Stillness. Blissful quiet.

But there it came again, a single knock on his door. Maybe if he just didn’t say anything, let whoever it was think he was still asleep, they would go away. He continued staring at the ceiling, imagining Dave’s face, his laughter and the freckles on his cheeks.

But there came another knock. 

“Klaus?” Diego asked, his voice slightly laced with concern. 

Klaus sighed and gave in. Swinging his legs out of bed, he could feel a headache approaching but ignored it for the time being. Later he could deal with that; later Klaus would process his feelings.

He placed his hand on the door, leaning his forehead against the cool wood. A sharp breath in through his nose was the only way he braced himself before he swung open the bedroom door. Diego stood on the other side, looking wearily at Klaus.

“Hey, man. You good?” Diego said, his face was etched with concern. “You didn’t show for the family meeting last night, and it's...past noon.”

“Wonderful! Just...great.” Slapping on a fake smile, every bone in his body ached at the false mask he wore. Klaus wanted to share his anxieties with his family, he wanted to talk to them about his experience and about Dave. And, maybe one day he would, but not today. Klaus needed to process his own trauma before that happened. 

And it was obvious Klaus wasn’t fooling anyone. Diego raised an eyebrow, analyzing his brother; Klaus could only imagine what Diego was seeing: shadowed eyes and puffy cheeks and the naked, evident emotion he couldn’t hide. 

Diego blinked. “ _Okay_. Well, if you need anything I’ll be just down the hall.” 

Klaus nodded. Not trusting himself to do anything else. Barely opening his mouth, he opted to hold his tongue and keep those fears, those worries and anxieties and memories at bay. And closed the door. 

_Don’t let them see you cry. Don’t let them see you cry._

Klaus couldn’t hold the tears in. He sat down on the bed, head in his hands, not bothering to stop the tears running down his cheeks. He would be vulnerable later, he would show this anguish and hurt and pain to his siblings, later.

For now, Klaus sat and cried.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated <3


End file.
